Quest
Definition A quest can be obtained from a character. Quests can be completed to obtain items. Quests can reward loot, they may also reward nothing. They can cause both positive and negative changes in the world, or their effects may be delayed until later. Rules The following is a list of rules most quests must follow: * quests will make you revisit older areas, this is good for keeping older areas relevant and to make areas significant rather than just for one specific thing. * when you give a quest to an NPC whilst making the game, the quest rewards the NPC gives out should also be added to their inventory. * the core quest functionality should be what initially shapes an area on the map, I design the areas around the quest and add some more functionality later. * questgivers can and will notice if you have equipment that is better than the would-be quest reward, and they can offer you an even better reward in some instances, sometimes this is the only way of obtaining incredibly rare items, as many can't be stolen. * at an early point in the game you go to locations, which, later in the game will open up to much larger areas. there may be quests that solve the problem on the surface, but not the underlying problem. You should be able to deduce though that something IS going on beneath the surface. This should fascinate the player to continue. * The game will present obstacles that are unassailable and mechanisms to bypass these will be given at random points, usually a game presents the hurdle then immediately afterwards presents a solution, my game will make the player really want to find a solution that isn't in an obvious location. * an area that becomes more and more open through quests, and during quests, such as a city or temple. * put a chest in the game that has no key. * when areas are revisited by the player after a certain time has passed based on the number of quests that have been completed since the last visit and the actual time spent away from the area, there is a % chance that something on the table to-be-updated has updated, areas won't usually update all at once, but at pieces, and in random order. * physics based puzzles/objects within reason are fun and make the world feel alive. Static things don't tend to be fun. * unique rewards that benefit already existing processes are much better than flat rewards. * if you do not get to areas and achieve quests quickly enough in game time, then the quest will progress without you in negative ways. * There is one large game timer, and within that timer several smaller timers for quest availability and ect. * some quests through neglect will raise in difficulty to the point they cannot be completed, this can also affect other quests in the same areas. * quests completed earlier will be mentioned later, along with what your intervention caused negatively or positively. * Not all discoveries are rewarding, some have long lasting negative effects, not all quests have good conclusions. * some quests are only available for a limited time that is high skill and permanently changes parts of your character. * offer alternatives, don't say there is only one way to do something, open the doors up to multiple ways of completing a task, but none that make the other method not worthwhile either. * quests areas lead to additional quests, for instance a locked door, then unlocked, leads to additional areas and quests. Ideas The following is a list of ideas not yet structured into quests. * at one point you are extremely limited, and spend ridiculous amounts of time on small quests that seem meaningless, this is to develop a feeling of hopelessness. This is abruptly ended. * quest to pour the molten metal to create sword blanks. * if you bring the blacksmiths own weapons back to him; he'll tell you about the adventurers he sold them too, and what they hoped to achieve, although they clearly failed in their tasks, you could attempt to solve their loose ends. * quest to deliver blanks to individual smiths. * quest to find ways to sharpen the sword blanks using various sharpening materials. * the available quests are a pool of quests, and npcs can actually accept and complete these before you do, in some cases the requirements will be too high for you, but not for them. * quest where you need to select which area of a forest you think is the darkest in order to search it first. * quest where a group of fragile stone warriors help you, they're more of a burden than useful, but you'll feel good if they all remain intact. * a quest will require that you sacrifice all of a collectible item (lums) for a reward, however this is optional. * you pick up a quest early into the game, but can't complete it until much, much later when the circumstances have entirely changed. * an area that is sealed off entirely, but is accessible for select quests, and this same area is used for multiple quests, and changes frequently. * The player will make promises, often without even thinking about their impact, and then later in the story may be forced to break those promises. * quests usually offer permanent change, sometimes it isn't obvious what that change is, but some are more obvious, like funding the rebuilding of a bridge, not all of them are as positive as they seem at first. * quests should be long enough so that the same second the player begins to get frustrated they also succeed, giving maximum emotional payoff. * an unlocked message at 100% completion from the developers, plus a final quest-line. * an area visited much earlier in the game, but for the wrong reasons, a dumb, small quest (showing little respect to the area itself) was completed, and was incredibly minor. A much larger, more complicated and difficult quest appears in the exact same area, showing the area's true purpose and true worth. * a quest which is and will always be incredibly difficult at any phase of the game and upon completion will open up the entire game from the opposite viewpoint, a viewpoint usually inaccessible for 90% of players * Quest to build a town. * a quest that makes you vastly more powerful earlier on, but later on, you're asked to return the stolen power you stole to it's rightful place. * a quest where an old woman will make you soup if you bring her water from the river, she can make better soup if you bring her additional ingredients she asks for, but all of these ingredients are ridiculously hard to find. * a quest earlier in the game was a complete fraud, it was easy on purpose, almost to mock you. the npc will admit this and give you the "real quest" when he deems you to be appropriately experienced. * npc is in a coma for most of the game, and he is pretty important if awake, however he remains alseep, there are a set of quests to attempt to awaken him. * The "survive" quest is actually survivable, but is so hard it is not possible for 99% of players, surviving unlocks the rest of the game as a pure human, which changes much of the game in irreversible and interesting ways. * wood from the very first tree planted is a quest reward. * quest where you are pretty high up and need to get down to the area below, but most of the ways down are fatal, there is only one safe way down. * a quest that can be attempted and completed extremely early, but doing other quests will make it significantly easier, some will inevitably be discovered afterwards. * the first quest you receive is also the last quest of the game, the last item you receive is the first item given to you in the game. * all quests are main story quests * certain closely situated quest areas will eventually interlink, creating shortcuts. For instance, a usually difficult to navigate area to a distant location will gain a part-way shortcut from one additional quest, which then through more additional quests becomes a full shortcut. * at one point in the game, you need to finance a business venture to build a bridge, which unlocks a new area and increases the wealth of the region, if you don't finance it, it never happens. * a seemingly major event that happens in one quest line, It's rather bleak conclusion is picked up and rectified in a completely different questline as a complete afterthought, mocking your past understanding and experience. * content so difficult there are progression paths to even be able to access it, and different levels of simplification can be applied to make it easier through quests and other things. * a quest later in the game that has the exact same structure as a quest at the beginning of the game, but with much more important cause. * very high level quests that take place at locations that are basically at the very start of the game, they have changed since you were last there.